This year has offered thin pickings for government-bond investors and low yields offer a poor starting point for 2016.

It has been another remarkable year for central bank policy. The U.S. Federal Reserve has lifted rates for the first time since the global financial crisis, while the European Central Bank has delved further into negative rates and bond purchases. Yet 10-year government bond yields are virtually unchanged from the start of 2015.

The moves in fact are tiny. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields started 2015 at 2.19%; they stood at 2.21% Friday morning, according to FactSet data. In Germany and the U.K., yields have risen by similarly...